


The Best In Me

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Adoption, Family Loss, Female Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Cancer, Recovery, Superfamily
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 03:06:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13894926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: Out of everyone, it was  Miss Stark that stepped up. She was the only one. He'd admired her before, but he loved her now.





	1. Recovery

He woke up to soft breathing at his back. It was a testament to how exhausted he'd been that he hadn't even registered someone entering his room. He'd had to learn to tune out Ned's snoring since the bite.

He rolled over as naturally as he could and the arm - when had that gotten there? - moved to let him readjust. His senses weren't even tingling. It was the lax face of Miss Stark that met his. She was in a Led Zeppelin shirt that seemed pretty old and leggings with their fair share of rips in them. Her hair was braided loosely back, stray strands escaping. She must have been here for a while.

A hand tangled gently in his curls. "Go back to sleep, kiddo. We'll start dealing with it tomorrow."

He settled against her chest, the beat soothing and steady even with the Reactor in the way. That was the beginning.

He missed Aunt May every day, but he would forever be grateful to Tony for being the only one there to catch him.

* * *

Aunt May had been purging since the diagnosis, doing her level best to conceal both the items disappearing and her own deterioration. She wasn't successful.

Spider-Man hadn't really been necessary since Vulture, so he spent much of his time with her, even missing days.

Then, she had gone into the hospital for a checkup and . . . 

The apartment was empty that night, and every night until the funeral. He stayed with Ned the night she was buried, unsure if being alone was the best idea.

When he came home the next day, nearing noon, he found the apartment had been cleaned and May's stuff boxed, neat and orderly. A scrawled note on his bed explained.

_It sucks being left alone. Hopefully this helps some. Put what you want to keep in your room and leave what you need rid of in her bedroom. I'll take care of it. -TS_

He folded the note neatly and placed it in his drawer. Then he went to take what memories he wanted to keep. 

Her jewelry, glasses, photo albums and nursing degree were what he took. He almost saved her robe, but that felt like he was trying to pretend she wasn't gone. He carefully moved them into his room, then sat down on his bed, a headache forming between his eyes. He was going to cry again.

It was that night that Miss Stark threw open the doors to his life and let herself in.

* * *

MJ and Ned had been quiet and comforting. But they seemed to have kept the news of May's passing to themselves. Flash had been mostly ignored throughout the day, but it was when he was leaving to go back to the apartment that he made a nuisance of himself.

"Hey, Penis Parker!" Flash pulled to a much too sharp stop, grinning victoriously. What for, Peter didn't know. "Walking again?"

"Yeah. I always walk."

Flash revved the engine but slipped his foot from the break, making the car jerk a little. He was still grinning, like he'd accomplished something, when an adult voice broke over them.

"Hit me with this garbage car and I will take everything your family owns in the settlement."

Peter snapped around, breaking into a bright smile. "Miss Stark!"

"Hey kid." She smiled softly at him, ruffling his hair. "A bully?"

"Not really. He's just mean."

"A bully then." Miss Stark turned her gaze on Flash and the kid went white. "I don't appreciate someone thinking they have the right to bully my kid."

"Uh, um, i'm s-sor-"

She waved her hand at him in dismissal. "Begone. I have no more time to waste on you."

Peter grinned at her as Flash pulled away. "Thanks, Miss Stark! But I gotta ask - why are you here?"

"Came to pick you up." She replied, sniffing disinterestedly. "I've got dinner waiting back home and I know it takes you a little to get back home."

His eyebrows shot up.

"In my defense, I only know roughly fifty dished that Edwin made me memorize how to make and one Syrian dish from a little town."

"ThatKs okay. Aunt May wasn't a great cook either." He beamed at her, only slightly dimmed saying his aunt's name. Miss Stark wrapped her arm around his shoulder and lead him to the million dollar sports car she'd driven up in. "If you're sure."


	2. Rekindling

Miss Stark was amazing. Well and truly amazing.

The next day was Saturday, so he elected to stay home despite Ned texting him constantly about Flash seeing Miss Stark before him.

She was in the little kitchen, having returned a moment ago with bags of groceries. He was at the island, texting MJ back about mathletics when she walked in.

"That's a lot of stuff." He said, jumping up to help her.

"Not really." She placed it all on the counter, setting things out in a strange order.

"What are you planning on making?" He asked.

"I was going to make lasagna." She replied. "I'm not really good at cooking, but there are some things I can do. Rhodey used to have me make this for him the night before his deployments."

"Can I help?"

She seemed startled by the offer, then ruffled his hair. "Sure. It's going to be long, though."

"Not like I was really planning on doing anything else."

She paused, considering. "I can probably teach you how while we're at it. Though it has been a bit since I made it, so it might not be great. I should make one for Rhodes, now that I think about it."

He didn't point out her tangent, just washed his hands and pulled off his nice sweater.

"I am going to have to start feeding you really well."

"Hmm?"

"You're too thin. Your metabolism burns though so much more now, but I imagine you couldn't tip May off by eating more."

He ducked his head, a little self-conscious. "Yeah. She would have noticed."

"Lucky that I'm a billionaire." She sniffed, pulling off her own shirt to reveal a grey tank top, the Reactor shining over the marble counters. "Let's get started."

Miss Stark spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon showing him how to cook. She guided him through making the sauce - crushing the tomatoes himself, browning ground beef, adding spices and herbs. She showed him how to roll out pasta sheets, then cut them, crimping the edges so they'd make a decent layer in the lasagna. She showed him how to mix the ricotta cheese with the cottage cheese and what consistency he was looking for. Then, she guided him through the assembling of the massive lasagna into a pan she had bought that was two feet long, a foot wide and five inches deep. He filled the whole thing, grinning up at her when he put it in the oven covered in a thick layer of mozzarella and tinfoil. 

They had an hour or so, she said, before it was ready to eat. She then proceeded to help him with his math and physics homework, explaining the concepts in the simplest, most explicit terms. He adored every second of listening to her explain string theory, pointing out what parts of his textbook were obsolete.

"I would know." She said. "I was the one who gave the lecture that proved it otherwise."

They wasted the entire hour discussing the intricacies of his webbing and possible improvements to the compound that she was considering. 

The timer beeped, startling both of them.

"And that's time." She smiled, getting up and shutting off the oven. She pulled it out, checking the browning and setting it aside to set up. "Where are the dishes, kiddo?"

"Oh! I'll help!"

* * *

"Uh, Miss Stark?"

She looked up from cutting mushrooms. "Yeah?"

"Not- Not to seem ungrateful, or anything, but I just- I- uh-"

She stood straight, a small, soft smile coming to her face. "You wanna know how long I'm going to stay."

He flushed. "Yeah."

She pursed her lips before going over to her grocery bags and pulling out a manila envelope. She set it down on the counter and pushed it towards him.

"I pulled some strings to keep you out of foster care, but these forms are for your adoption. You're sixteen, so I can't do this without your consent, and I thought I might ask you this a little later."

His eyes were wider than the dinner plates, wet with emotion. She looked away sheepishly. 

"I would like to adopt you, Peter."

"That would be amazing, Miss Stark."

She wrinkled her nose. "You're my adopted son. Tony is fine."

"Okay . . . Tony."

 "I'm not exactly the best with kids-"

"You're doing great with me."

That brought an involuntary smile to her face. "Still. Don't say I didn't warn you."

He hopped off the stool, rounding the island to squeeze her tightly, his face pressed into her collarbone inches away from the humm of the Reactor. "Thank you, Tony."

Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around him too, her cheek coming to rest on the crown of his head. She was shaking, just very slightly. 

"I'll take care of you, Peter. I promise."


End file.
